My New Etsy Shop is Opening Soon!

A whole month has flown by again and I have been totally absorbed and occupied with expanding my art business.  As explained in some of my recent posts – I have been shocked at the fall in sales, which appears to be due to the spending power (or lack of it!) of most of the tourists visiting Almyrida this year.  All the local businesses here have suffered and I have realised that my marketplace is too restricted.  This fact has been in the back of my mind for the last few years, yet I have never had the time or the motivation to pursue other avenues for selling.  For the last seven years I have spent all my time producing my seashell mosaic collages.  There has been no time for promoting them on the World Wide Web.

Deckchair under a Palm Tree Seashell Mosaic Collage - 50 x 40cms

Deckchair under a Palm Tree Seashell Mosaic Collage – 50 x 40cms. Sold from my stall in Almyrida last week.

However, the whole of September I have had four free days a week in which to rectify this.  After hours and hours of researching to find the right professional in the art world to approach – I found the perfect person to help and advise me through this next important stage of growing my art business.

I can’t go into details right now but I can say that Marie is giving me so much confidence and support, that I am now very excited about the opening of my new online shop!  Yes – I am opening a shop on Etsy – the best worldwide shopping centre for all things handmade!

The decision to open up a shop on Etsy, was made only after I had spent countless hours trawling the net to find artworks similar to mine, or that were at least created using seashells.   Etsy came up time and again.  But I couldn’t quite work out how I would define my art?  That’s where Marie came in and told me my work was Fine Art and that Etsy was definitely the right place for me!

Marie is going to write a ‘Feature Artist’ article about my art and effectively launch my shop.  She will publish the article on her website and then share it and the shoplink right across social media – Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn and many more.   This should all hopefully, drive visitors to my shop!  The launch date is 1st November 2016.  Below is the Shop Link:

SeashellBeautyinArt

Building my Etsy shop has been massively time-consuming.  I didn’t realise I had so many different designs that all had to be photographed and listed.  As with any learning curve, I understand more as I go along, but I still profess to be a total novice when it comes to selling online.  The shipping logistics are a nightmare and will be one of the aspects that I intend to improve upon and develop as time goes on.

Although I have not had room in my head for anything else but my art business, other things have been happening in my life in between.  Jenny and her friend Tracy came to stay for the weekend, when Jenny’s apartment was booked for half the week she was in Crete recently.  She was also here in August, when we went on that fabulous boat trip I wrote about in my last post!  I couldn’t do it this time because of work overload on the Etsy shop, but we did have a great time the weekend they stayed with me!

Grandson Ralph

Little Ralph – staying with Emma at the Whelan’s until I get there!

Also, Emma has had an operation on her shoulder and is now out of action for the next 6 weeks. Given that Ash is away training in the RAF – Emma is reliant on us to help out. Zoe has taken time off work and is with her right now, helping to look after Ralph and doing all the things that Emma can’t do for herself.  We have planned as best we can, for this situation and the Whelan family have all stepped in to lend a hand too!  I am flying out to the UK on Tuesday, to stay at Emma’s for three weeks.  It will be a complete break from my usual routine and is why the shop won’t open until 1st November. But oh what a wonderful opportunity!  I get to look after and play with my gorgeous cute baby grandson, Ralph and I get to do it for three whole weeks!  Of course I am looking forward to seeing all my family and hopefully some of my friends too!

So I still have a million little details I want to take care of before I leave for the UK.  My last selling day by the beach in Almyrida will be on Monday and then that’s it for another season.  Who knows what next year will look like for my growing art business and my unique seashell mosaic collages?!

 

 

2 thoughts on “My New Etsy Shop is Opening Soon!

  1. Well done on the updated website and your new venture. I hope it takes off big time, you deserve the success. Hope you enjoy your UK visit with your beautiful grand son.
    Regards
    Margaret

    • Thank you so much for your wonderful message of support, Margaret! Yes I am looking forward to the changes. I think the timing is just right and I’m ready for another challenge! I can’t wait to be with Ralph!

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